New iGP First Look
By Jack Basford
Last updated: Thu, 10 Sep 2015 19:17
Steady progress is being made on the new iGP, though it is arriving a little later than originally hoped. I had mentioned our intention of launching at the end of September, but it is clear that this will not be possible now. Provided nothing unexpected happens, we will be launching in Q1 2016. With that announcement out of the way, let’s move on to the good stuff!
Today I am going to show you the first detailed screenshots and descriptions of a page in the new iGP Manager. We would love your feedback on what you see, but remember that the new game design is primarily aimed at mobile and tablet clients. The flexibility of mobile will revolutionise how we play iGP, and to accommodate these new platforms, the level of complexity will shift in various areas of gameplay.
The page I am demoing in this blog is the new race preparation page. As you will see, the process of setting up a car is more streamlined and efficient than it is today. There is even an option to purchase the ideal setup using Tokens (Tokens are not a new feature, they are the new name for the existing ‘Reward Points’ system). While preparation is simpler, the complexity of live races will remain or even increase in some regards, with more variables influencing performance in the race simulation.
New cross-platform, cross-device GUI design
The first thing you will probably notice about the new iGP is the totally new interface design. In previously released screenshots this was still in its infancy, but it is now reaching maturity and the images you see are pretty much how the finished game should look. This new GUI (graphical user interface) has been designed for and tested on everything from an iPhone 4 up to a 24” desktop monitor, as I will demonstrate in the screenshots.
New artwork
As you will also see, there is new, rich artwork for driver and staff faces, bringing the characters behind your team to life. A variety of faces and ethnicities are available, which we will expand further over time.
New streamlined race preparation
On to the race preparation itself, and the first tab is the ‘Race’ tab, demonstrated on a desktop monitor. This contains a breakdown of information for the upcoming event. The circuit attributes are displayed along with two buttons, one containing the familiar weather forecast, the other a new feature: Practice results. Clicking the ‘Practice results’ button launches a table of all practice lap times set by participants. Yes, this means that practice lap times are back in the new iGP. It also means you can compare your practice times with your rivals before qualifying!
The second tab is the ‘Setup’, demonstrated here on an iPad screen. This is where the practice laps are conducted and the new simplified car setup can be seen. It is most likely that a total of three practice laps will be granted per driver. If you are really pushed for time you can use Tokens (currently known as Reward Points) to purchase an ideal setup.
The final tab is the strategy tab, shown below on a Samsung SIII. Constructing a race strategy looks very different, but acts in much the same way as the current system. The tyre compound is the focal point of each stint but fuel is now specified in laps, rather than litres. This will make it more straightforward to calculate strategies, while continuing to offer maximum strategic variability. You can also select how many pit stops you want to schedule, and the table will update to reflect that, which is much cleaner than the current add/remove procedure.
If you’re wondering where Car Assembly and refitting parts has gone, it has been moved to a separate screen for managing your cars.
Simpler car setup and race strategy is not just making everything mobile-friendly, though it helps serve that purpose. Our long-term ambition is that a simplified race build-up will allow us to build in friendly races, which can be organised quickly, for friends to race together at any time. A friendly race feature will not be included in the first release of the new iGP, but we hope to add it in a later update.
We would love to hear your first impressions and feedback in the comments below!
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@Jamie - Obviously desktop managers will be asking themselves how everything would feel as part of the current desktop experience. Seeing the whole game though, some areas are simpler, some are more complex and variable. All together it balances out. Nothing (other than the general design) is fixed at this stage though, and we can still respond to feedback during beta testing.
It definitely looks like the game is being "dumbed down" :(
I have played a lot of big online games over the years, heavily involved in Planetarion back in the day for example. And what stopped me from playing it was the deviation from what brought me to it in the first place. I look forward to seeing the in race screens etc.. but please be careful, we arent dumb people!
Sorry Jack, I have to say I think the move to "laps" of fuel is totally wrong :(
It used to be a challenge with trying to take your technical directors expected fuel usage, use your own experience of what push levels you were expecting to use, working out what fuel you needed and then have to turn up for your race to see if you got it right! The heart ache of having to pit on the last lap, or the joy of moving into first when someone else got it wrong. Will push lvl even effect fuel any more?
AWESOME !! Ihaven't event read it
I like the idea of stepping up the complexity of the setup as you move up tiers and having 4 tiers would allow more people in one league since there seem to be lots of leagues all running at the same time ;)
That's true, but we're happy to make setup more complex on desktops if that's what people want, or in Elite, etc. The possibilities are all still there, and we left all the old setup values in place behind the scenes, ready to be re-introduced. Perhaps on desktops we could just offer the old setup style, period. This is really what I meant by we'll see how beta testing goes. That's where we will really settle these matters.
At the end of the day we will not know till we try it the little options wont be as easy as they look when you have to allow for driver style track and weather
Thanks for the suggestion James, that's certainly a possibility. In Elite the setup values could resemble the current 0-100 system and require more refinement.
The screenshot shows setup for Rookie league?
Pro leagues will be wee bit harder Front & Rear Suspensions & Front & Rear Aerodynamics?
Elite leagues will be harder again Front & Rear Suspensions, Front & Rear Aerodynamics & Front & Rear Ride Heights?
Super -Star leagues use full car setups Front & Rear Suspensions, Front & Rear Aerodynamics, Front & Rear Ride Heights & Front & Rear Tyre Pressures?
I know why so little setup can only see so much on a Phone screen lol
@James - Yes, the idea is that (not in the first release, but in a later update after release) it will be possible to start a race at any time, inviting friends. These races will not interfere with the league structure. On the point Uncle Albert made about UnitedGP's race system, our league system is remaining in-tact in this update and will in no way resemble that of UnitedGP. :)